Fluid-pressure apparatus for well-drilling tools.



Patented Aug. 5, |902. G. B. GALLAGHER &. C. J. MACOMBEB. FLUID PRESSUREAPPARATUS FOB WELL DBILLING TOOLS.

. (Application filed July 17, 1901.)

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No. 7U6,i73. Patented Aug. 5, |902. G. B. GALLAGHER & C. J. MACOMBER.FLUID PRESSUREPPABATUS FOR WELL DRILLING TOOLS.

(Application filed July 17, 1901.)

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(No Model.)

0 rS 4m) w. 3. /9 n4 I 'H @B Lc df QMCMBE UrrTTnn STaTss GEORGE BYRONGALLAGHER AND CHARLES JOHN MAOOMBER, OF ST.

MARYS, OHIO.

FLUlDmPRESSURE APPARATUS FOR WELL-DRILLING TOOLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 706,173, dated August5, 1902.

Application tiled July 1 '7, 1 90 l.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE BYRON GAL- LAGHER and CHARLES JOHN MAcoMBER,citizens of the United States,r'esiding at St. Marys, in the county ofAuglaize and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Fluid-Pressure Support for Well-Drilling Tools, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates generally to welldrills, and specically to afluid-pressure support for well-drilling tools.

The object of the invention is to present a simplyconstructed,thoroughly efficient, and readily-operable apparatus of the characterspecified which in use will be at all times under perfect control of theoperator either to effect raising or lowering of the drill and in whichthe parts of the apparatus will beso constructed and assembled as to bereadily separable for purposes of cleansing or repair, a further objecthad in View bythe mechanism employed being to dispense with allcomplicated and delicate instrumentali ties, thereby insuring eifectiveservice with a minimum of danger of breakage or derangement in use.

W'ith these and further objects in view, as will appear as the nature ofthe invention is better understood, the invention consists in the novelconstruction and combination of parts of a hydraulic attachment forwell-drilling tools, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts, wehave illustrated a form of embodiment of our invention capable ofcarrying the salient features thereof into effect, it being understoodthat various changes in the form and proportion of the parts may beresorted to without departing from the 'scope of the invention, and inthese drawings- Figure 1 is a view insectional elevation, exhibiting therelation existing between the various partsV of the device. Fig.2is aview in horizontal section, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is asimilar view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view inelevation, exhibiting the device with a rope-clamp associated therewith.Fig. 5 is a view in plan,

serai No. 68.654. on mais exhibiting the general construction of therope-clamp shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings and to Fig. 1 thereof, we have exhibited ahydraulic attachrnent for well-drilling tools embodying the essentialfeatures of our invention. In this view, 1 designates a cylinder forcontaining the fluid to act as a buffer, the fluid to be either water'oroil, as may be preferred. The cylinder is provided at its extremitieswith threaded portions 2 and 3, respectively, the portion 2 beingengaged by the upper cylinder-head 4 and portion B by the lowercylinder-head 5,' this latter cylinder-head also constituting acasingfor housing the valves controlling the passage of lfluid to therespective ends of the cylinder and also as a pump-casing. Thecylinder-head 4 has its upper portion threaded to be engaged by a nut 6,a portion of the head 4being chambered out, as at 7, to receive suitablepacking material 8,which material, in conjunction with the nut 6,constitutes a packing-box. The nut 6 and cylinderhead 4 are eachprovidedwith a central opening in which works a piston-rod 9, carrying at itsupper end a cross-bar 10 to engage with the walking-beam of an engine,and as this will be readily understood detailed illustration showingthis connection is deemed unnecessary. The lower portion of thepiston-rod is reduced, and on the reduced portion is fitted apiston-head 11, seated in a cup 12, of leather or the `like, and bearingagainst the cup 12 is a follower 13, also seated in a cup 14, ofleather,a nut 15, screwed onto the lower end of the piston-rod, servingto force the follower against the piston-rod, and thereby cause the cupsto impinge the inner surface of the cylinder to present an elfectivejuncture between the two to prevent passage past the cups of the -fluidcontained in the cylinder. The cylinder-head 4 is provided with a port16, in this instance of inverted-U shape and terminating on the underside of the-head, and communicating with this port is a pipe 17,constituting a by-pass, the lower end of the bypass having threadedengagement with the upper-portion of they cylinder-head 5, as at 18.Communicating withthe lower end of the by-pass is a port 19, whichextends downward within the cylinder-head for some IOO distance and thenforks into two branches 2O and 21, respectively, each of these branchesbeing provided with a transverse tapered valve-seat to be engaged byvalves 22 and 23, respectively, the valves being extended outward to oneside of the cylinder-head, as shown in Fig. 3, and provided withsuitable handles 24, by which they may be turned. The valve 22 controlsthe passage of fluid from one end of the cylinder to the other throughthe bypass 17 and will hereinafter be designated as the by-pass cut-offvalve, and the valve 23 controls the passage of fluid from the lowerportion of the cylinder through the pump to the upper portion ofthecylinder and will hereinafter be designated the pump cut-0E valve. Thelower cylinderhead 5 is constructed of two sections 25 and 26, thesection 25 by preference being integral with the cylinder-head and thesection 26 detachable therefrom and held assembled therewith by bolts27, passing through alined ears 28 on the two sections. The generalcontour of the valve and pump containing portion of the lowercylinder-head is clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and in elevation inFigs. 1 and 4 and is exhibited as a projection extending at right anglesto the length of the cylinder, and while this manner of constructing thelower cylinder-head has been found advantageous in use and is one thatwill generally be preferred itis to be understood that the invention isnot to be limited to this precise manner of arrangement. The cylinderhead 5 is constructed with side extensions 30, provided with openings3l, through which pass links 32 for supporting the ropeclamp, as willpresently appear.

The front portion of the lower cylinderhead is provided with a verticalchamber 33,

into which fits a plunger-rod 34, constituting one member of the pump,the rod being operated by a lever 35, having a pivotal connection withthe rod and with an oset or projection 36 of the cylinder-head. Withinthe upper and lower sections of the lower cylinder-head there is formeda duct or port 37, extending from beneath the lower end of the cylinderto beneath the chamber in which the plunger-rod of the pump works, andbeneath and communicating with the chamber 33 is a chamber 38, thischamber being placed in communication with the duct 37 through themedium of an upward-opening gravity-- Valve 39. To one side of the valve39 and above the same there is arranged a second valve 40, this valvecontrolling the passageway between the branch 21 of the port 19 and thechamber 38, the branch 2O of the port 19 opening into the duct 37, asclearly shown in Fig. 1.

The upper cylinder-head is provided with eyes 41, to which are connectedropes 42, these ropes to be employed for the purpose of lifting thecylinder when the operation of drilling ,a section of the well equal tothe stroke of the cylinder has been completed.

The rope-clamp 43, to which reference has been made, comprises,generally stated, two members 43 and 44, having their upper extremitiesformed into hooks 45 to engage with the links 32. bers 43 and 44 areconcaved, as shown at 46, to conform to the contour of the rope 47,(indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4,) a clampbolt (designated generally48) being employed for elfecting a rigid union between the members 43and 44 and the rope. The general description of the rope-clamp hereingiven will be sufficient to render it easily understood as to the mannerof its operation, no

The opposed faces of the memspecific description being given, as thisclamp forms no part of the present invention.

The operation of the device is as follows: The cylinder being in itslowest positionthat is, with the piston-head close to the uppercylinder-head-the valve 22 is opened and the cylinder is lifted, the oilor fluid in the cylinder under the piston-head being forced through thebranch 20, through the valve 22, into the port 19, and thence up throughthe by-pass 17 into the upper end of the cylinder. When the cylinder-has been lifted to the limit of its height, the valve 22 is closed. Therope 47 is then securely clamped in the rope-clamp and the enginestarted. As the device is reciprocated by reason of the connectionbetween the upper end of the piston and the walking-beam the drillgradually sinks, and the operator will from time to time open the valve22 to permit the drill to drop as requisite. If at any time during theoperation of drilling the operator desires to lift the drill a shortdistance,vthe valve 23 will be opened, and by operating the pump thefluid will be drawn down through the duct 37 into the chamber 38, thenceto the branch 21, and upward through the by-pass 17 to the upper end ofthe cylinder. When the drill has reached the desired limit of its upperadjustment, the operator again closes the valve 23.

- It will be seen from the foregoing description that while the parts ofthis device are comparatively few in number they are disposed andcoperate in such manner as to produce the most effective results inoperation. As above pointed out, there are no delicate or intricateparts that are liable to become damaged in use, the only parts thatreally would be liable to wear being the valves 39 and 40, and by reasonof the manner in which the lower section of the valve-casing isassociated with the upper section the parts of the casing may readily bedisassociated when it is desired to remove the valves for the pu'rposeof grinding or retruing.

It is to be understood that air may in some instances be employed as abuer in lieu of a liquid, so that the generic term duid used in thespecification is to be understood as meaning either an aeriform iiuid ora liquid.

What is claimed is- 1. A device of the character specified, com- IOO IIO

prising a duid-containing cylinder, a piston mounted therein andoperating to support the same by fluid contained between the piston andone end of the cylinder, valves for positively controlling passage offluid from the upper to the under side of the piston to allow thecylinder to descend, a by-pass connecting the ends of the cylinder and aforce-pump for withdrawing fluid from the under side of the piston andforcing it against the upper side thereof to raise the cylinder.

2. A device of the character specified comprising a fluid-containingcylinder having its ends closed by heads, a piston mounted within thecylinder and having a rod projecting through the upper head to beconnected with suitable actuating mechanism, a force-pump carried by thelower head and coacting with a chamber arranged therein, agravity-valvecontrolled duct connecting the lower end of the cylinderand the chamber, a second chamber communicating with the first chamberthrough a gravity-valve-controlled duct, a bypass connecting thecylinder-heads, branch ducts connecting the lower end of the cylinderand the said second chamber with the bypassfand man ually-operablevalves arranged in the branch ducts and operating, respectively, to openor close communication between the lower end of the cylinder and theby-pass and between the said second chamber and the by-pass.

3. An apparatus of the character specified, comprising a cylinder tocontain a fluid, apiston-carryin g rod to work in the cylinder, a bypassto establish direct communication between the ends of the cylinder, aduct to establish indirect communication between one end of the cylinderand the by-pass, a pump in communication with the duct for drawing fluidfrom the lower portion of the cylinder and forcing it through theby-pass to the top of the cylinder, and valves for controlling thepassage through the by-pass and the duct.

4. An apparatus of the character specified, comprising a huid-containingcylinder, heads secured thereto, a piston-carrying rod to work in thecylinder, the latter to be supported by the contained iiuid, a by-passpipe arranged exteriorly of and connecting the two cylinderheads,Valve-controlled chambers arranged in the lower cylinder-head, pumpingmeans in cooperative relation with the chambers, a duct connecting thelower end of the cylinder with the chambers, a port having branchescommunicating, respectively, with the duct and one of the chambers andthe by-pass and Valves for controlling passage through the saidbranches.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have heretoaffixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE BYRON GALLAGHER. CHARLES JOHN MAOOMBER.

Witnesses:

HOBART SCOTT, CHARLES I-I. KELLY.

